Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a radiographic image capturing system and a console, and especially to a console capable of displaying an icon corresponding to imaging order information, thumbnail image of a radiographic image, etc., and a radiographic image capturing system equipped with the console.
Description of Related Art
Heretofore, in a field of a radiographic image capturing system which irradiates an object with radiation such as an X-ray to capture a radiographic image for the purpose of disease diagnosis or the like, there has been increased a case of using a radiographic image capturing apparatus (Flat Panel Detector: FPD) in which radiation detecting elements, each converting irradiated radiation into electric charge, are arranged in the state of a two-dimensional matrix. The radiographic image capturing apparatus has been conventionally developed as a so-called exclusive machine integrally formed with a support and the like. However, a portable radiographic image capturing apparatus, which houses the radiation detecting elements and the like in a housing so as to be portable, is recently developed and comes into practical use.
To the radiographic image capturing system using such radiographic image capturing apparatus, a console is often introduced in order to control activation/operation of the radiographic image capturing apparatus and/or a radiation generator which emits radiation to the radiographic image capturing apparatus through an object. The radiographic image capturing system is often configured such that the console performs various correcting processes including offset correction, gain correction and defective pixel correction, and/or precise image processing including gradation correction depending on an imaging portion, with respect to image data and the like obtained by the radiographic image capturing apparatus, to generate the radiographic image to provide it for a diagnosis by a doctor, or the like.
For example, the inventions described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2000-166908 and WO2011/142157 are examples of the invention having the configuration to generate the radiographic image based on image data and the like on the console. In each of the examples of the consoles described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2000-166908 and WO2011/142157, when the image data and the like are transmitted to the console from the radiographic image capturing apparatus, the console automatically executes a generating process to generate the radiographic image on the basis of the image data and the like.
These documents also describe that the console displays icons corresponding to pieces of imaging order information regarding imaging performed by using the radiographic image capturing apparatus are displayed for the respective imaging orders, and displays, in a focused manner having a different mode from display modes of other icons, an icon corresponding to a piece of image order information regarding a currently-performed imaging or an imaging to be started.
Concretely, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2000-166908 describes displaying an arrow in the vicinity of the icon corresponding to the imaging order information regarding the currently-performed imaging or imaging to be started so that the icon is displayed in a focused manner. WO2011/142157 describes that the icon, which corresponds to the imaging order information regarding the currently-performed imaging or imaging to be started, is displayed in a focused manner by being colored with a color different from those of other icons. It is also described that the focus display of the icon moves to an icon corresponding to the next imaging every time imaging ends.
These patent documents also describe performing the imaging specified by the imaging order information corresponding to the icon displayed in the focused manner, and displaying the radiographic image and/or a preview image thereof, which have been generated based on the image data and the like transmitted to the console from the radiographic image capturing apparatus, at the positions where the icons have been displayed on the console.
Thus, by displaying the generated preview image and/or radiographic image at the display positions where the original icons corresponding thereto have been displayed, respectively, it becomes possible to inform an operator such as a radiologist that these images are generated based on the image data, which have been obtained by the imaging specified by the imaging order information corresponding to the icons. Also various beneficial effects can be further obtained. For example, the generated radiographic image can be definitely collated to the image order information, on the basis of which the radiographic image has been obtained.
By the way, an operator such as a radiologist often performs further adjusting processing (hereinafter simply referred to as an image quality adjusting process) of image quality etc., by executing fine adjustment of brightness/darkness or contrast with respect to the radiographic image which has been generated as described above and displayed on the console, though Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2000-166908 and WO2011/142157 do not clearly describe that.
Incidentally, in such a case, the image which has been subjected to image quality adjustment is confirmed and correlated to the imaging order information. When the image quality and the like of the radiographic image generated by the console is appropriate, the image quality adjustment do not need to be executed again as a matter of course. For this reason, hereinafter, the phrase “to perform the image quality adjustment”, etc. includes the case that an operator such as a radiologist judges that there is no need for the image quality adjustment and does not perform the image quality adjustment, as described above.
In the case of performing the image quality adjustment, for example, an operator accustomed to a work(s) can execute imaging of a plurality of radiographic images while successively changing the icon displayed in a focused manner, first, and then adjust image quality of each of the generated radiographic images in the order by which the operator can easily perform the processing, regardless of the order of imaging. If the radiographic image capturing system and/or the console are configured to allow the operator to freely do the works as described above, the operator accustomed to the works would get a feeling that the radiographic image capturing system and/or the console are easy to use.
On the other hand, as to an operator who is not accustomed to a work(s), if the radiographic image capturing system and/or the console are configured to allow the operator to perform imaging of all the radiographic images first and then execute the image quality adjustment of all the radiographic images at once, there may be occurred a problem that the operator becomes unable to understand which of the images has been or has not been subjected to the image quality adjustment. For this reason, the operator who is not accustomed to the works would feel safer if the radiographic image capturing system and/or the console are configured to allow the operator to execute the image quality adjustment every time the imaging is performed.
Concretely, the operator such as the radiologist executes the image quality adjustment of the radiographic image generated on the console when the imaging ends, and when the image quality adjustment is completed, performs next imaging and executes the image quality adjustment. If the radiographic image capturing system and/or the console configured to repeat such processing, the operator can execute the image quality adjustment at least every time the imaging is performed, and confirm the radiographic image to surely correlate the confirmed radiographic image to the imaging order information. Accordingly, it becomes possible to prevent the problem that the operator becomes unable to understand which of the images has been subjected to the image quality adjustment, and/or the problem that the operator forgets to execute the image quality adjustment, from occurring. Thus, the operator who is not accustomed to the works would feel safer if the radiographic image capturing system and/or the console have the above configuration.
Usability of the radiographic image capturing system and/or the console when separately executing the imaging and the image quality adjustment, or when executing the image quality adjustment after each imaging, may depend on not also whether or not the operator such as the radiologist is accustomed to the works as described above, but also a use mode of the radiographic image capturing system or the console.
Concretely, for example, even the operator accustomed to the works may wrongly perform the image quality adjustment to the radiographic image which has been taken by another operator and is displayed on the console, when the operator and the another operator share one (1) console, or may forget to perform the image quality adjustment in the misguided belief that the radiographic image has been taken by the another operator, though the radiographic image has been taken by the operator himself/herself. There may also be a case that the another operator wrongly performs the image quality adjustment to the radiographic image which has been taken by the operator himself/herself.
In such cases, it is preferable, even for the operator accustomed to the works, to configure the radiographic image capturing system and/or the console so that they perform the image quality adjustment for each imaging, because this does not allow the above-described misunderstanding of the operator, and enables the operator to execute the image quality adjustment of the radiographic image every time the imaging is performed, confirm the radiographic image, and surely correlate the radiographic image to the imaging order information.
As described above, the radiographic image capturing system and/or the console are required to be capable of accurately performing the image quality adjustment to the radiographic image, and surely correlating the radiographic image to the imaging order information, even when the operator such as the radiologist and/or the use mode of the radiographic image capturing system and/or the console change.